Opinion
Another City of Miami No-Bid Giveaway of our Scarce Public Land
How “sacrosanct” public land fell prey to back door dealing. By Samuel Joseph
While dealing with the effects of Covid19, Miami’s urban core residents and other taxpayers were unaware that their elected officials were putting the finishing touches on a no-bid “special deal for special people” to sell off valuable and scarce public land to developers.
On February 24, 2020, the City of Miami Commission approved the consent agenda item RE.7 (7219) with no discussion. This item was improperly placed on the consent agenda, which is reserved for housekeeping items (legislation) that require no public comment and are passed as a package without Commissioner discussion. Surprisingly, on April 13, 2020 city staff led by the new city manager executed a Public Benefits Agreement (PBA) quite different from the one included in item Re.7 — with ABSOLUTELY NO COMMISSION APPROVAL — and did not reference the resolution passed on February 24th.
“BHA was founded in part to save Southside Park and the precious little green space [parks] like it in Miami’s surrounding urban core,” said Ernesto Cuesta, President at Brickell Homeowners Association (BHA). “We will not stand idly by as our scarce public lands and valuable community assets are given away!”
The Proposed Deal
The controversial deal negotiated by city staff (item RE.7), including representatives from the Department of Real Estate Asset Management (DREAM), proposes to fully transfer the ownership of four parcels (approx. 32,000 SF) of publicly owned land comprising the property currently occupied by Fire Station 4 for future development, in exchange for approximately eight million dollars to build a new fire station, 2.2 million cash contribution, and a one million dollar investment in streetscape improvements. The agreement does not specify the location of the “new” fire station and/or detail any loss of park property and/or amenities (the agreement refers to a site plan that is not provided).
Most importantly, the agreement waives competitive bidding, meaning no other proposals were requested and/or entertained. As explained in the agreement, “the conveyance of the Existing Fire Station Parcel to Developer, or Developer’s designee, in connection with the construction of the New Fire Station is exempt from the competitive bidding process and other requirements because the Existing Fire Station Parcel is being conveyed to implement projects of a governmental agency or instrumentality”.
Another eye-opening surprise included in the negotiated agreement is the use of Southside Park as the development project’s staging area and parking for up to 42 months during construction.
Upon completion, the Developer will get to occupy and use the areas east of the fire station parcel, consisting of the historic structure that was the first high school in Miami and surrounding property within Southside Park, for uses such as retail, concession, events, food service establishments, as long as it’s approved by the city. There is no time limitation for this use in the agreement and it does not specify who at the city will be responsible for the approvals.
Finally, the development as proposed will only add to the traffic issues facing Brickell and the rest Miami’s urban core neighborhoods. There simply isn’t the infrastructure in the area (i.e. roads, parks, schools, etc.) to support a new 62 story development with over 1000 new residential units.
“BHA, Brickell and Miami’s urban core residents are not opposed to “smart” development that strives to “fit in” and add to its community rather than “stick out” and take away scarce and precious public green space from the community for private interest,” said Ernesto Cuesta, President of BHA. “That, like the loss and/or development of our park [Southside Park], is non-negotiable.”
First, it was Brickell Park, then Allen Morris Park, and Bayfront and Museum Parks are essentially open only to events and revenue-generating activities. Where is the access to public space we were promised when we moved into Miami’s urban core? Today it’s Southside Park that’s for sale, tomorrow it will be Melreese, Morningside, Simpson or Maurice Ferre. This is unsustainable in the long term and it’s up to local taxpayers and voters to hold our public servants accountable for their actions.
BHA has officially requested from elected and city officials a reconsideration of item RE.7 (7219) in the “sunshine” with public comments by the City Commission. BHA has yet to receive a response to its request.
Samuel Joseph is the CEO of Urban Core Community Coalition, Inc.
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